Spiritual Life
by Fr. Christopher Rengers, O.F.M.Cap.
Christ is the greatest preacher of all time; as He is the Eternal High Priest, so He is the Eternal Preacher of His own Gospel. And the greatest sermon He ever spoke was only seven short phrases, uttered from the pulpit of the Cross, as He hung dying the most agonizing Death in the history of the world.
In The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, Fr. Christopher Rengers, O.F.M.Cap., dissects the extraordinary wisdom that only the God-Man Himself could imbue in each of these words, parting instructions for His Church to be founded:
- "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Luke 23:34
- "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43
- "Woman, here is your son . . . Here is your mother." John 19:26-27
- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46
- "I thirst." John 19:28
- "It is finished." John 19:30
- "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Luke 23:46
Within this seven-sentence sermon, Our Lord has given us a pattern for our entire lives, united with Him in His Eternal Sacrifice of the Cross for us. Here are seven pieces of advice inconceivable not to heed—since they come from the Founder of preaching Himself. Let Fr. Rengers guide you through the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, and come to glimpse fathomless wisdom of God.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 96 pages
by Anne Catherine Emmerich
In the first part the visionary provides details of the lives of 59 saints, among them Agatha, Anthony of Padua, Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Benedict and Scholastica, Catherine, Dionysius the Areopagite, Francis and Clare of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola (and Aloysius), Justina and Cyprian, Nicholas of Fluë, Perpetua and Felicity, and Paul and Thekla. Part two gives examples of Anne Catherine’s gift of recognizing relics and other blessed objects, leading into deep insights regarding those to whom they relate. Part three presents the fascinating story of two individuals unknown to history: Datula (along with her princely husband Pontianus) and the mysterious Judith of Africa, a Jewess living in a region called the Mountains of the Moon. The closing reflection is on Mary of Agreda.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 248 pages
Also available in hardcover on request (additional cost)
According to the Letters of Direction of Dom Marmion
by Bl Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B.
Blessed Columba Marmion was much sought after throughout his life by those with questions on faith, prayer, or temptation; and his striking powers of spiritual counsel are on full display in this collection of letters exchanged between him and various members of the faithful. Union with God reveals a man speaking not only from the experience of the mind, but also from the depths of his own soul. These letters find Marmion employing his vast theological knowledge to give advice that is at once practical and profound, simple and extraordinary. The attentive reader will quickly understand why even popes and bishops looked to him for inspiration and counsel.
Paperback, size 8" x 5", 298 pages
Also available in hardcover on request (additional cost)
Collection of Short Works
by Mother Mary Loyola
This long-awaited anthology of all the minor works by Mother Mary Loyola is the fruit of many years of seeking. The relatively small size of the many booklets she wrote, mostly for the Catholic Truth Society, seems to have led over the years to the loss of most copies. Therefore it was no mean feat to assemble the most complete collection possible, including 13 of her 14 known pamphlets, as well as a bonus selection: a short essay published in a school magazine during the last year of Mother Loyola’s life. From her early How to Help the Sick and Dying to her biographical preface for the Maxims of Mary Ward, they can all be found in this volume. We hope that this will preserve them to future generations.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 522 pages
by Cardinal Giovanni Bona
Amid the shortness and uncertainty of life, Guidance to Heaven shows why we should live in anticipation of and preparation for death. Cardinal Bona advises us not to live in such a way that we are afraid to die because we are unprepared; but rather, realizing that death is our grand entrance into true life, we should make it our life's work to get ready. This spiritual text has been compared to the Imitation of Christ for its simplicity, clarity, and potency of doctrine, which befits the Cistercian formation of the author. And yet Cardinal Bona, a consummate liturgist and classicist, cannot fail to exude some of that scholarly erudition in his writing on the ascetical life. His Guidance to Heaven is short and powerful, coming from the heart of a man dedicated to the Lord in prayer and humility.
Giovanni Cardinal Bona was born in 1609 in Mondovi, Piedmont, Italy, near the border with France. He became a Cistercian monk at the age of 15, exhibiting an extraordinary erudition in his studies, as well as exceptional humility and sanctity. His qualities led him to be called as a prior, then abbot, and finally superior general of the Cistercians in Rome. While there, he served humbly and fervently, declining even offers of the episcopate, and hoped to retire into a life of study: instead, he was made a consultor to the Holy Office. When he became a cardinal, his extreme simplicity shone forth: his lifestyle did not change at all, and all of his surplus wealth he donated to needy priests at the Missionary College in Rome.
Let the words of this holy man reach you and bring you to an ever-greater zeal for pursuing the Lord in preparation for death.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 188 pages
by Rev. Peter J. Arnoudt, SJ
Recommended to us as even better than The Imitation of Christ. Jesus speaks to the reader - through the author, of course - in short, easy-to-understand chapters that are filled with wisdom. Thereafter the soul speaks to Jesus.
This book thoughtfully covers every way in which we can perfect ourselves through devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Not only that, but it warns us against every pitfall we face in the daunting task of attaining holiness. It includes important chapters on:
- The dissatisfaction worldly goods provide
- Salvation and the Sacred Heart
- Perfection and imitation of the Sacred Heart
- Cleansing of mortal and venial sins
- Sanctifying grace
- Jesus’s life and the Sacred Heart
- Jesus’s suffering and the Sacred Heart
- Unity with the Sacred Heart
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 576 pages, Impr.
Surrendering Oneself to God as a Way of Life
by Fr Joseph Schryvers, C.SS.R.
The Gift of Oneself discusses the giving of oneself completely to God, holding back nothing for ourselves. And in return, Almighty God in a special way concerns Himself with the sanctification of our souls and the care of our temporal needs. Jesus will work wonders in a soul so given over to Him, for He is the best of all spiritual directors.
Those who read this book derive a great feeling of peace and security from it. The Gift of Oneself will be a surprise and a delight to those generous souls who are ready to embark upon a secure and rewarding spiritual life!
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 180 pages
by St John of the Cross
St. John of the Cross takes us on a journey into ourselves, a journey of knowledge and self understanding, that encompasses our failings and imperfections. It shows us how in a place beyond words we can embrace sadness and grief, and seeking God, our lives will be turned around. He describes the “arid and dark night of contemplation” which leads us to “the knowledge of oneself and of one’s misery.” True knowledge of our self and of our condition shows how far we must go to find God, who our restless hearts incessantly seek.
The Dark Night of the Soul describes how first the senses, and then the spirit undergo a series of purgation, which aids in bringing it closer to God, and eventually preparing it for union with Him. The individual soul seeks Jesus in a mystical marriage. For after the dark night, comes the joy of mystical union with God.
This edition has been re-typeset using the text of the 1916 edition originally published by Thomas Baker, London under the Imprimatur of Edm. Canon Surmont, Vicar General, Westminster, 26th March 1916.
Also available in Paperback.
Leather Hardcover, size 8.3" x 5.5", 200 pages
God with Us
by The Benedictine Convent of Clyde
Booklet, size 6" x 3.75", 78 pages
Compiled from the writings of St Alphonsus Liguori
St. Alphonsus Liguori, the Prince of Moral Theologians, was one of the greatest preachers in Church history. A religious founder, far-reaching theologian, and holy man of God, St. Alphonsus never fails to utter a stirring word that draws out a lively penitence and redoubled dedication to the work of God from his audience. Carved out from his greatest writings, The 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation contains classic texts of Catholic spirituality that teach you the practical way to Heaven.
In these selections, St. Alphonsus reviews twelve key virtues that lead to sanctity and heavenly glory:
- Love, Faith, and Hope
- Love of God and Love of Neighbor
- Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience
- Meekness and Humility
- Recollection and Prayer
- Mortification and Love of the Cross
Resonating throughout St. Alphonsus's work, and here no less, is the profound sense of sin and its awfulness that he undoubtedly felt and from which he longs to save his flock. He dwells repeatedly on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven, bringing the reader to consider his own eternal destiny. Above all, St. Alphonsus's words are permeated by what seems a prolonged meditation on the words of Our Lord: "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?"
And yet, though St. Alphonsus can be a terrible and grave man to hear, it is only from the most unique tenderness and subtlety of his heart that such words can spring. For "out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaketh," and St. Alphonsus's heart was only filled to the brim with genuine desire for innocence and purity of heart in all his spiritual children. It is worth noting he never refused absolution to anyone.
There is no better teacher on moral theology to ever grace the Church than St. Alphonsus Liguori. Let The 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation guide you away from the mortal error of indifference to sin and into the joyful light and beatitude of holy suffering, leading you up the 12-step stairway to sanctity.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 216 pages
by St Teresa of Avila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, mystic, Carmelite reformer, and Doctor of the Church, is one of the greatest people to ever walk the face of the Earth—and even one of the greatest saints. Her position as a spiritual master is uncontested and, as her Way of Perfection will attest, her method of prayer was simple: through astounding sanctity and humility, as well as intensive recollection, we may approach God through meditation and come to know Him intimately. And He always rewards us more than we deserve.
From this saintly life developed a method of prayer, a veritable method of growing in perfection, that includes such insights as this:
- Prayer must never be self-indulgent.
- Only solitude and interior quietude are necessary for meditative prayer.
- Vocal prayer is of extreme use and must be said humbly and attentively.
- Meditation is necessary to grow in virtue.
- Recollection of one's nothingness before prayer is essential.
- Humility and perseverance are necessary for prayer.
- And so much more . . .
The Way of Perfection is an astounding work by an astounding saint, a highly detailed and immensely useful guide to approaching the Lord through higher and higher degrees of meditative prayer and contemplation, written by the queen among the saints of meditation, beyond compare in mystical wisdom. Let that wisdom pierce your heart too, through the words of these pages.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 271 pages
From the Visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
“But there are also many other things which Jesus did which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.” (John 21:25).
Did you know that the revelations as told in The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ inspired and provided many of the powerful images and scenes in the film The Passion of the Christ?
Written to inspire an increased love for God, this book details the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the renowned 19th century German nun who was a visionary, mystic, stigmatist, and victim soul. Blessed Anne’s visions give accounts of many more of the unknown details of the Passion, providing our imaginations rich food to further contemplate Our Lord’s great suffering on our behalf, and thereby grow our love for Him by meditating upon His most sacred and dolorous Passion.
Every Catholic should meditate frequently upon the Passion of Our Lord; with this book in hand you will be able to meditate on the narrative of the Passion in a new, vivid, and especially spiritually enriching way. Edifying, inspiring, surprising, and heart-rending, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich's descriptions of our Lord's Passion will melt a heart of stone.
The content of her visions includes:
- The Blessed Mother’s role in the Passion and in our redemption
- The details of the insults hurled at Jesus
- Jesus’s conversations with His disciples and with the two thieves
- The reactions and fear of the people all throughout Jerusalem
- An account of the descent into Hell
- And much more…
Also included is a biography of the author, which explains the details of her holy life and how different members of the hierarchy of the Church have promoted her visions as credible.
Easily the best and most complete meditation on the Passion, this book is a must-have Lenten read, as well as a year-round way of fostering a spirit repentance and love of our suffering Lord.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 382 pages
Includes The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies and the Soliloquies
by St Teresa of Avila
Volume One of The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, first woman doctor of the church. The translators have taken full advantage of all that recent scholarship has contributed to a better understanding of Teresa and her writings.
This volume includes her first major work, The Book of Her Life, and two of her shorter works, the Spiritual Testimonies and the Soliloquies. Clear and contemporary, this rendering captures Teresa's spirit while remaining faithful to her thought. Includes general and biblical index.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 420 pages
The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, vol. 2
Includes The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle
by St Teresa of Avila
This volume contains two of Teresa's most popular works: The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle.
Shortly after writing The Book of Her Life for her confessor, St. Teresa wrote The Way of Perfection at the request of her nuns who were eager to learn about prayer and contemplation. Throughout this work she teaches her nuns about prayer and also teaches us.
The Interior Castle is considered St. Teresa of Avila’s masterpiece. She wrote this last work in just a few months in 1577, five years before her death. At this point in her life she had been granted the highest mystical graces; this book is the fruit of her lived experience and a deep-felt praise of God for it. Using the image of a castle, Teresa describes the soul’s progressive inner journey through seven dwelling places, until finally reaching the center where, now transformed, it is united with God.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 554 pages
A Practical Handbook for Souls, Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time
by Fr Lawrence G. Lovasik
Transform yourself — and the world — through kindness!
Kindness counts. If you have trouble acting with the consistent kindness our Lord expects, your relationships with God and those you love may be suffering.
Probably you just can’t find the time — and can’t ever seem to develop the patience — that you need in order to be consistently kind amid the irritations that afflict you daily. That’s why this book is such a godsend.
You’ll learn how to be kinder, even in difficult circumstances.
There’s nothing complicated or magical about learning to be kinder; it just takes greater attention to the things that you do and how you do them. The Hidden Power of Kindness shows you how to become more aware of even your most offhand daily actions. You’ll find simple, step-by-step, and spiritually crucial directions for how to overcome the habitual unkindnesses that creep — undetected — into the behavior of even the most careful souls.
If you want to make progress in the spiritual life, you can’t afford to miss the bracing insights in this handbook for souls who yearn to be kinder. They’ll give you years of solid help in overcoming sin so that you’ll live more fully with others — and truly transform your corner of the world!
You’ll learn:
- Four ways you can become more considerate . . . immediately!
- Sympathy: why it’s your spiritual responsibility to show it to others — and five ways you can start doing so
- Three things to do — and three things you must not do — in order to grow kinder quickly
- Four surprising reasons why it’s spiritually dangerous to criticize others
- Three sure-fire remedies to eliminate sinful anger from your life
- Seven ways you can turn to your own spiritual benefit the wrongs that others do to you
- Six ways you can find and root out the hidden envy that may be choking your spirit right now
- And much more to help you grow kinder — and holier!
- Practical step-by-step instructions for overcoming all forms of unkindness and meanness
- Also includes a 67-question self-examination you can use to monitor your progress in growing kinder and holier!
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 250 pages
by St Catherine of Genoa & Don Cattereo Marabotto (her Confessor)
The Spiritual Doctrine of St. Catherine of Genoa is one of the most unusual Catholic books ever written. The subject of this book explains what the spirit of Christ opposed to the spirit of the world can mean in the life of a soul. St. Catherine of Genoa, a member of an illustrious Italian noble family, was married but had no children. She and her husband worked in a hospital in Genoa, of which she later became director.
This volume contains three separate works: The Life and Doctrine of St. Catherine of Genoa, the Spiritual Dialogue and the Treatise on Purgatory. The latter alone is worth the price of the entire book and sets the theme for all three writings. St. Catherine sees the entire Christian life as one of purgation. If the cleansing of the soul in this life is not completed it is simply continued in the next. The Treatise on Purgatory explains the attitude of the Poor Souls, their sufferings of Purgatory and those of Hell.
The Spiritual Doctrine of St. Catherine of Genoa teaches us that the only truly important progress made in this life is the development of the human soul and that all else is insignificant in comparison. St. Catherine demonstrates that what we do with our precious allotment of time will determine what we shall be for all eternity.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 328 pages
The Works and Ways of God
by Fr. Frederick William Faber
Fr. Faber's brilliant work on the Eucharist, The Blessed Sacrament: The Works and Ways of God considers the magnificent gift Our Lord has given us in this holiest of mysteries: the Mystery of His very Body and Blood. His aim is to inspire a reverential awe and love for God's greatest work, the compendium of all miracles, and Summit of the Sacraments. Included are Fr. Faber's insights into the theology of transubstantiation (rendered all the more useful by Fr. Faber's upbringing in and countering of Protestant denials of this truth), as well as descriptions of Our Lord's five Eucharistic sufferings. Fr. Faber urges reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
As usual, Fr. Faber ranges over the entire Catholic Faith in this work, not limiting his wisdom's scope, and enlightening our minds and inflaming our souls with a more deeply Catholic outlook on life.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 464 pages
The Price of Our Salvation
by Fr Fredrick William Faber
Fr. Faber calls it the price of our salvation, for Our Lord died from loss of blood. Says, it is out of the Precious Blood that men draw martyrdoms, vocations, celibacies, austerities, heroic charities and all the magnificent graces of high sanctity.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 278 pages
All for Jesus
The Easy Ways of Divine Love
by Fr. Frederick William Faber
In All for Jesus, Fr. Faber provides one of his most tender and encouraging spiritual treatises, because the subject of his discourse is Divine Love. He urges us to save our souls by "serving Jesus out of love," for "everything comes easy to love." In addition to powerful motives for the love of God (something we have been preached since youth and can take for granted without stopping to contemplate), Fr. Faber shows how Christian perfection is not nearly so difficult as it seems, because true love will transform all of our actions. For the yoke of the Lord is easy, and His burden is light.
In short, Fr. Faber shows that, if we love God, it will be with us as it was with Jacob working to earn the hand of Rachel: "Years would seem but days; for the greatness of our love." This is Fr. Faber at his finest. Let his rare wisdom, characteristic of a more ancient Christian sage, guide you through the "easy ways of Divine Love."
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 328 pages
The Beatitudes
compiled by Fr Francis X. Lasance
This short work is a practical guide for daily living the beatitudes. Through quotations, stories and examples, Father Lasance simplifies each of the eight beatitudes and shows us the importance of practicing virtue, so we too may one day be numbered among the Blessed in Heaven.
Original 1940 reprint with improved formatting.
Paperback, size 7" x 5", 150 pages, Impr 1940